Friends, classmates remember slain journalist at vigil

Friends and former classmates of Kim Wall, a Swedish freelance journalist whose remains were found in the Baltic Sea this week, gathered on Wednesday to remember her as a good friend and "amazing reporter."

Wall, 30, was last seen alive on the evening of Aug. 10 in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the UC3 Nautilus, a submarine built by Danish inventor Peter Madsen. He has been arrested and charged with manslaughter in Wall's death.

Crowds of people assembled for a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening at Columbia University in New York City, where Wall studied journalism.

One attendee, who did not provide his name, said he was good friends with Wall, but the two lost contact after they graduated from Columbia University's School of Journalism back in 2013.

"She was someone who was always full of life," he said. "She was always determined, but she was also was very humble."

Classmate Salima Koroma said she she wanted to come to the vigil to show support for Wall's close friends and family members.

"Just seeing all the journalists come together and knowing that we all have each other's backs ... that's the one good thing that I can say has come out of this," Koroma said.

She admitted that she didn't know Wall very well, but she said the two interacted a lot during their time together at Columbia.

"For that year that we were together, at grad school, we were all together, it was a small group, so we all knew each other," Koroma said. "Coming out here is my way of supporting my friends who did know her very well."

After Wall went missing, Koroma said she and a few other classmates started a private social media group to share photos and information about the ongoing investigation into her disappearance.

"What we wanted to do is make sure that this story doesn't go untold and that it didn't get buried," Koroma said. We wanted everyone to know "the importance of Kim, her life and her work," she added.

Coleen Jose, Wall's friend and professional collaborator, posted a tribute to her on Facebook Wednesday, honoring her as an "artist and storyteller" who was good at breaking down complex information.

"Kim was an artist, piecing together memory from various elders, recorded and oral histories as well as the moments we observed in the atolls," Jose said as she recalled her memories of working with Wall. "Her work compelled action from the US government and at its core, exemplify the mission of journalism to shine light on the world's troubles as well as its beauty."

She said they once traveled together and reported from a remote span of the Pacific Ocean.

"Though her legacy will live on, our profession has lost an incredible journalist. We've lost a friend, a daughter, a sister and light of compassion in the world," Jose said.

Wall was to embark on a brief ride on Aug. 10 for a profile about the 46-year-old Madsen, according to The Associated Press. Wall's boyfriend later told authorities the submarine had not returned, The AP reported.

Madsen was arrested and charged in the death of Wall on Aug. 11, according to Danish police.

Police say Madsen changed his story, first claiming he had dropped Wall off on land at Refshale Island and then changing it to say Wall had died in an accident on the submarine and she was buried at sea. Danish police said in a press release on Wednesday that weights had been tied to Wall's body in an apparent attempt to keep it from surfacing. An investigation into Wall's death in ongoing, police said.

ABC News' William Gretsky and Mark Osborne contributed to this report.